


Day 7, Day 26

by Widowfics



Series: Varian and Whumptober 2020 [6]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010), Varian and the Seven Kingdoms
Genre: (evil laugh), Cass is here too!, Enemy to Caretaker, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt Varian (Disney), I'm just a freshman don't judge, I'm trying my best ok, In a way, Kinda, Whumptober 2020, but they will..., no.7, the seven kingdoms gang doesn't know about his past, this is a lighter fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Widowfics/pseuds/Widowfics
Summary: “Stop,” he repeats, though it’s unnecessary. Hugo is about to question him, but restrains himself, realizing Varian has all his attention on the stranger. It seems as if...he recognizes them?The stranger sheathes their sword, seemingly recognizing Varian in return.After a moment of strange silence, the teen finally speaks.“...Cass?”She relaxes, almost smiling a little.“Finally, kid.”orVarian tries to introduce Hugo, Nuru, and Yong to Cassandra when their paths happen to cross, but they only know her as a face on wanted posters...
Relationships: Cassandra & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Hugo & Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Nuru & Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Varian & Yong (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Series: Varian and Whumptober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940524
Comments: 22
Kudos: 191
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. I've Got You

**Author's Note:**

> Seven Kingdoms Fic 2!!! Again, another two parter...y'all know the drill. This is a more lighthearted story, but don't worry, we'll get into some deeper stuff in chapter 2:)
> 
> PROMPTS I USED TODAY: enemy to caretaker (FYI: Cass was the "enemy")
> 
> EDIT: I understand regicide means the murder of a royal, but when I wrote this I was under the impression that it meant something else. The correct word is technically attempted regicide or treason, but tbh...plain regicide just sounds a whole lot more dramatic 😂 so, can y'all just pretend for this fic that regicide means overthrowing of a monarch instead of murdering them? idk...indulge me;)

“Varian!!!”

Varian snaps his head towards the cry, dropping the berries he had been gathering on the forest floor. He immediately recognizes Yong’s young voice, and it sounds like it’s coming from their camp. Yong had been starting a fire while Varian, Nuru, and Hugo searched for a late dinner nearby. He had checked for danger before leaving, but he must’ve missed something…

“Yong?!” he yells back as he runs through trees and bushes. When there’s no answer, he runs faster.

Soon he emerges in the clearing and is met by the sight of Yong on his back on the ground, looking up at a figure towering over him. Before Varian can react, though, Hugo bursts through some bushes, knife already in hand and charging towards the stranger. He swings at them, but they dodge just in time. It doesn’t take him long to regain his footing and he swipes again. This time the stranger is ready, and pulls out a sword, deflecting the strike.

In the commotion, Yong had run to Varian’s side and Nuru had joined them from the woods. Now Yong is frantically pulling at Varian’s sleeve.

“Varian!” he whisper yells, seeing he has his friend’s attention. “I think I know who it is!”

“What-” Varian starts, but is interrupted once again by the fight in front of him. Hugo has caused his rival to back up a bit, and the fire sheds light on the previously shadowy figure. Varian instinctively squints, trying to get a good look at their features.

He barely contains his gasp.

He  _ knows  _ this person.

Hugo’s about to stab this person.

“Stop!”

Varian’s command is so sudden and urgent that the two combatants actually comply. In seconds, Varian has bounded up to them.

“Stop,” he repeats, though it’s unnecessary. Hugo is about to question him, but restrains himself, realizing Varian has all his attention on the stranger. It seems as if...he recognizes them?

The stranger sheathes their sword, seemingly recognizing Varian in return.

After a moment of strange silence, the teen finally speaks.

“...Cass?”

She relaxes, almost smiling a little.

“Finally, kid.”

~

“Whoa whoa whoa,  _ Cass _ ?” 

Varian winces at Hugo’s tone while Cass rolls her eyes. The look on his face when Varian had recognized the intruder in their camp had told him that he should let Hugo talk before trying to explain anything.

“You know who she is, right?” he asks, pointing at her as if she can’t hear him. “Wielder of the Moonstone? She was the biggest threat in the seven kingdoms like,  _ eight _ months ago.”

“Her wanted posters were everywhere!” Nuru pipes in, agreeing with Hugo on something for once.

“ _ That’s  _ how I knew her,” Yong adds.

“Look guys, I know all of that. It happened in  _ my  _ kingdom, remember?” Varian counters, holding his hands out and subconsciously stepping in front of Cass. “But that’s all over. She’s my...friend. Now.”

Personally, Varian didn’t know how true that last part is; Cass had left almost immediately after the defeat of Zhan Tiri, a smart move that he could always understand. And they  _ had  _ exchanged some heartfelt apologies before she had gone. Anyways, the important part is that she’s not an enemy.

“Then why did she try to attack Yong?” Hugo questions, still very unconvinced.

“I didn’t,” Cass finally answers for herself, sounding annoyed. “All I did was try to talk to him and  _ he  _ started freaking out and tripped over the log!”

Yong puts his hands on his hips, visibly offended. “Well sorry if it creeps me out when a shadowy figure pops out of the forest at night and grabs my shoulder-”

“Ok, guys!” Varian interrupts, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright, introductions weren’t the best, but now you know that Cass is not a threat.”

“Look, Varian, we  _ do  _ trust you, ok?” Nuru tells him.

“ _ Thank  _ you,” he responds, pointedly glaring at Hugo standing across from him.

“But,” she continues, seemingly not done talking, “we also know that you can be...sympathetic, to certain people-”

“Wait, what?” Varian tears his gaze away from the blonde to look back at Nuru.

“What she’s  _ trying  _ to say,” Hugo cuts in bluntly, “is that you can trust ‘Cass’ all you want, but  _ we  _ don’t!”

Hugo’s statement causes an argument to break out among the five of them. For some reason, Varian can’t get Hugo, Nuru, and Yong to see his side when it comes to Cassandra, and she’s not really helping with her snappy remarks.

“She attempted  _ regicide _ , Varian!” Hugo shouts over everyone.

“And  _ he _ went through with regicide! What do we get, a medal?” Cass shouts back.

Varian tenses up at her words. Yes, he had spent the last few months of his life with these people, been in countless life threatening situations, but he hadn’t quite gotten around to telling them about his past…

He’s been meaning to, he really has, but the right moment just never seems to come up.

Guess he had this coming, but it doesn’t make it any more enjoyable.

“Cass…” he whispers through clenched teeth when everyone falls silent at her comment.

“Look,” she continues, apparently not hearing him. “I don’t blame you guys for not trusting me. You don’t know me, I showed up out of nowhere, and yes, I  _ was  _ a wanted criminal. But you gotta understand that people make mistakes, and now-”

“Hold up,” Yong interrupts, not letting her finish. “You said  _ Varian  _ went through with regicide?”

“Yong-” Varian starts, turning his attention to the boy, but Yong ignores him and keeps going.

“So not only are you dangerous, but you’re also a liar? Wow, you are not helping your case at all, are you?”

“I’m not ly-” Cass starts, confused, but then her eyes widen in realization. “Oh, he hasn’t told you, has he?”

Varian’s face pales when Hugo gives him a look.

“Told us what?”

Varian holds his gaze for a few seconds before breaking away. He turns to Cass again.

“Why are you here?” he asks, trying his best not to sound hostile despite his slight irritation with her at the moment.

Thankfully she doesn’t seem to notice. She opens her mouth to answer, but is suddenly cut off by a new sound.

Without warning, about half a dozen people jump out from the bushes around the group. Even through his shock, Varian realizes most have weapons.

Cassandra pushes him behind her with one hand while she pulls out her sword with the other. She inclines her head to the new arrivals. 

“That’s why.”

She lunges for the closest one, clanging her sword against his. The sight of Hugo doing the same with his knife snaps Varian out of his surprise and he grabs for his ever present alchemy balls. Behind him, Yong lights a torch and Nuru picks up a thick, nearby stick. 

Varian sees another invader approaching Cass from behind and aims at his back, successfully trapping him in pink goo. He rushes towards her to make sure the guy stays down, and ask a few questions.

“Who are these guys?” he yells over the commotion, finally pulling out his own dagger to hold off someone who’s too close. He and Cass currently stand back to back; somewhere in his mind he notes he’s only a little shorter than her now.

“Not sure,” she answers, voice as serious and focused as ever. “Bumped into them a little ways back. They were talking about trials and totems and things I didn’t get, but then they said your name and I knew you had to be nearby.”

She manages to disarm her opponent, not wasting a moment before punching him in the face hard enough for him to fall to the ground, unconscious. 

Varian finishes up with his guy, although  _ he  _ restrains him with goo. He turns to face Cass.

“I have alchemy, you know,” he points out as she steps away from the body on the ground.

She lifts her eyebrows in obvious disinterest. He simply shakes his head.

“I think that’s three down,” he says, counting in his mind. “Right?”

Instead of answering, she looks past him. 

“I think your friend needs help.”

Varian follows her gaze, only to find Hugo a few yards away, trying to fight off two bandits on his own. He sighs, rushing towards him with Cass on his tail.

“Hey, over here!” 

His call gets the attention of at least one of them, as he turns his head away from the fight to briefly stare at the two people rushing forward. Unfortunately for him, this allows Hugo to get the upper hand as he kicks him to the ground. His weapon falls out of his hand on impact and Hugo points the edge of his dagger at him in warning. Meanwhile, Cass only takes a few seconds to do the same to bandit number two.

“...thanks,” Hugo mutters, joining her in restraining the newly fallen.

Varian wants to laugh at the older teen, now that he had been proven wrong about Cass. Before he can, though, something else catches his eyes. 

On the other side of the camp, one last attacker is facing off with Yong and Nuru. Normally, he would be confident in those odds, especially knowing Nuru’s fighting capabilities and Yong’s pyromaniacal problem. But their rival is bigger and taller than the others that had come with him, more than twice the size of even Hugo. 

Varian’s fear is proven when Yong’s torch is ripped out of his hands, and he is roughly shoved to the ground. Nuru’s eyes widen, momentarily caught off guard.

“Yong!” she shouts.

While she is looking at her friend, the huge man sees his chance. He lifts his fist high, preparing to bring it down on the distracted girl.

Luckily, by this time Varian has made it to them, and lunges in front of her. He shoots his hands out, able to catch the strike. He uses all his strength to push against the man’s hand, teeth gritting in concentration.

At first his opponent seems surprised, but soon his eyes narrow and he even smiles a little. Varian wonders why until he catches sight of the man’s other hand, already balled up and swinging at his head.

“Oh-” is all he gets out before it collides with his temple. 

He doesn’t even hit the ground before everything goes black.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “She said you committed regicide, Varian,” Nuru laughs, crossing her arms. “So unless you’re telling us that actually happened, I’m not seeing your point to this trusting thing.”
> 
> The three others stare at Varian and Cass, smiling at what they think is a victory in stumping him. It takes them a while to realize the two’s faces paling, slowly turning to look at each other with somewhat panicked expressions.
> 
> “Kid...I really didn’t mean to…” Cass whispers, internally wincing at the situation she has accidentally gotten her friend into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha, guess I'm posting literal trash now. oop
> 
> PROMPTS I USED TODAY: migraine

_Kid…_

_“...he dead?!”_

“Varian!”

Varian’s eyes dart open. At first, everything is dark, but after blinking a few times, he can clearly see four heads staring down at him.

“Mm...Cass…” he groans, already trying to push himself up. 

Hugo rolls his eyes, throwing his hands in the air and turning on his heel.

“Yeah, no, just go straight to the ex-terrorist, that’s fine! It’s not like we’ve all been living together for the past six months!”

“Alright Blondie, I just saved your butt back there!” Cass snaps, turning her own back to the boy on the ground. “How much more do you want?”

Hugo juts a finger at her, scowling.

“First of all, you do not get to call me that. Second, I don’t know, how about a legitimate reason for being here at the same time those idiots showed up?”

Cass opens her mouth, no doubt to yell something back, but Varian beats her to it.

“Hey, guys, this stopped being about-” he cuts himself off with a hiss of pain at the throb in his head. “...me pretty quick,” he finishes weakly as Nuru and Yong help him into a standing position.

Cass sucks in a breath, looking guilty as she turns her eyes back to the slightly injured boy. 

“Sorry kid,” she quickly apologizes, looking him over. “You good?”

Varian nods, only slightly as to not disturb the oncoming migraine. He gently shakes off Yong and Nuru, now confident in his ability to stand. 

“Look, guys,” he starts, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. “I’m not really in the mood to debate this anymore. If you guys still have a problem with Cass, I don’t know what else you want me to do.”

“I don’t understand,” Hugo persists, looking incredulous. “How can you be defending her?!”

“What are you _on_ about, Hugo?” Varian groans, sounding more annoyed than anything. Maybe something happened to his memory when he got knocked out, but he’s _pretty_ sure Cass saved all of them a few minutes ago. Why can’t they see his point (and _why_ does Hugo always have to be such a pain?)?

“How can you trust her, Varian?” Yong continues for the older boy. “She literally lied about you like ten minutes ago!”

“ _No she did no-_ ”

“She said you committed _regicide_ , Varian,” Nuru laughs, crossing her arms. “So unless you’re telling us that actually happened, I’m not seeing your point to this trusting thing.”

The three others stare at Varian and Cass, smiling at what they think is a victory in stumping him. It takes them a while to realize the two’s faces paling, slowly turning to look at each other with somewhat panicked expressions.

“Kid...I really didn’t mean to…” Cass whispers, internally wincing at the situation she has accidentally gotten her friend into.

“Hold on,” Hugo starts, still smiling, but _much_ less confident in his words and appearance. He laughs nervously. “You are...telling us...that never happened. Right?”

With each word, his smile gets smaller, until it has completely disappeared. Instead it is replaced with a look desperate for an answer.

Varian doesn’t give one, wide eyes and slightly open mouth the only source of conformation. 

Hugo’s jaw completely drops, the two kids behind him matching the action. He stutters at first, completely at a loss for words.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS???” he finally yells, threading his hands in his long hair.

“Re-regicide?” Yong stammers, obviously completely caught off guard. “ _You?_ ” 

Varian flinches at each word, subconsciously taking steps back until he’s right next to Cass (who doesn’t comment). How could he have been so stupid as to not tell them before? It had only been a matter of time before they found out, and maybe he could’ve prevented...all of this. Hugo is livid. Yong looks like he’s about to cry. Nuru seems to be in the middle of a calculation. 

Wait, what? What is she doing? She mouths things to herself, holding up a hand and ticking things off with her fingers. But before he can even ask, she stops, looking up as something begins to dawn on her. 

“The 14 year old who almost took out the entire Coronan guard…” she whispers. Then she lifts a finger, slowly pointing at him. “That was three years ago. You’re seventeen.”

Her eyes widen, as if _this_ is what makes her realize what he did, and not the fact that he alluded to it a few seconds ago.

“Oh my gosh,” she breathes. “That was you!”

“Wait!” he shouts, feeling backed into a corner even though these people are his _friends_ , and they’re not going to stop being his friends because of a few past mistakes.

At least...he hopes not.

“Ok, yes, yes, I did all those things. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys before. Really, I meant to! I just...never got around to it.”

He clenches his teeth, both at the stabbing pain in his head that has decided to make itself known again, and at his weak defense.

“YOU NEVER-” Hugo starts, still at top volume, face now red. He stretches his hands out towards the smaller teen, before thinking better of it and reluctantly drawing them back in. Turning around, he screams into his elbow instead.

“Look, I’m gonna tell you guys everything! I’m gonna tell you guys everything right now!” Varian assures desperately. “Come on, just...come on.”

The three eye him carefully, as if considering his proposition. He can practically hear Cass holding her breath behind him (and he may be doing the same).

“Ok,” Nuru finally breaks the silence. “But you have a _lot_ of explaining to do.”

~

“So, how did _that_ go?”

Varian looks up at Cass as he sits on the log next to her, before shaking his head and letting out a short breath. 

“It...went.”

“Meaning?”

“Better than expected, to be honest. Although I don’t think Hugo’s gonna let me out of his sight for a while.”

“Let me guess, he wasn’t too thrilled you got thrown in jail at 14?” 

“Nope.”

Cass nods, chancing a look at the blonde sitting in front of the fire a few yards away. His back is turned to them, and he seems to be having a discussion with the other two.

“I figured. They seem like the protective type.”

Varian laughs, following her gaze. “You have no idea.”

She sighs, directing her attention back on the boy.

“Look, kid. I really am sorry about that. I didn’t-”

Varian holds up a hand, cutting her off.

“Hey, it’s ok. They were gonna find out sooner or later. And of all the scenarios, this was not the worst one.”

Cass nods slowly, still feeling some guilt. For a moment, they sit in silence, watching the fire and listening to the sounds of nature. 

“How do they feel about me, now?” she asks, continuing to look ahead.

“I think they’re gonna be ok with it. But at least they seem to trust you now. And they still seem to trust me, surprisingly.”

Cass hums thoughtfully. “I have a feeling you weren’t the only one with secrets, kid.”

Something seems to flicker in Varian’s eyes, and he looks down.

“No, I guess not.”

The quietness comes again, and this time, Varian almost feels himself start to nod off.

“So.”

Cass’s voice keeps him alert, and he brushes some hair out of his face.

“So?”

“Wanna explain what exactly all this is about? What _are_ you doing out here?”

Varian can’t hold back his groan, dramatically sliding off the log and onto the ground so his back can lean against something.

“Now _that_ is a story for another time. Because right now my head is _killing_ me, and I am way...too...tired…”

He trails off at his own yawning, resting his head on the wood. Before Cass knows it, he seems to have actually fallen asleep. She chuckles fondly, reaching over to push his bangs away, revealing a peaceful, freckled face. She can’t help but darken a little at the sheer amount of bad past experiences that face has suffered, some at her own hand. Things have certainly changed since the last time they saw each other. This whole adventure he seems to be on, for one. She honestly can’t wait to hear all about it from him, when he wakes up, but for now, she knows his rest is well-deserved, the fight from earlier still fresh in her memory.

She lets a smile light up her face, in a way only achievable by the goofy dork snoring softly next to her. Everything could wait.

Cause she has _really_ missed this kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thx for reading...ik it hurt

**Author's Note:**

> thx for reading:)


End file.
